THE D1 ARCHER PLANNER'S DAILY TWO-PAGE SPREAD, IN ACTUAL USE

UNSOLICITED PRODUCT DEMO AND REVIEW, COURTESY OF MCKENZIE STEUBER

HOW TO USE ARCHERpart #1: Morning Coffee

The day is here. It's morning. Maybe the day requires an Advil, maybe it required a juice. But it definitely requires coffee. And with coffee, comes the first use of the Archer Day Planner & Journal. Hot, strong coffee, A favorite pen, and Archer. Maybe some music. Open up Archer to a fresh two-page spread and begin shaping your day. Gather yourself and the world around you, setting the stage.

Today's date, the date. What is it? Find out and write it here. Write it. Start the day by not looking at the date on a screen, not looking at it on a calendar. Start by writing it here. In Ink. Permanent ink, starting the day by writing down the date.

Take command of the atmosphere. Look to the sky, stick your palm out and feel the wind/rain/snow/sun. Make a guess, consult the weatherman, and log the weather. It sets the stage for the day. It determines what you'll wear, carry, do, not do and talk about all day long. It's the weather. Find out what it is and log it here.

The quantified self, quantified as if doing a standardized placement test. Question: How is your mood? Be honest. Honest with yourself – how is it? Write it down. Health – you have a cough? A hangover? No, you're fit as a fiddle? Write it down. Stress, sleep? Hair and clothes? Take stock in yourself, and fill in a bubble. The left-most bubble denotes the worst, the right-most denotes the best. Be honest.

And since you're drinking a coffee right now, right it down right here. And the muffin you're eating. Or Egg McMuffin. There's no judgements. Log your breakfast, knowing that you can make amends when you come back in a few hours to log your lunch, dinner and snacks. At any time you have the opportunity to be able to tick off that "Healthy" box.

HOW TO USE ARCHERpart #2: Taking Care of Business

You're about to go forth and make things happen, in a tactical manner. Go deep into the next two modules to frame your day, and kick the conscious – and subconscious – into high gear. As the day progresses, the Archer Day Planner becomes your canvas, your rolling schedule and to-do list. As you pass from event to event. as the day changes, as life unfolds, you add, modify, mark items complete and take notes along the way.

Copy all of your appointments, obligations, meetings and phone calls into this module. Get away from your digital calendar by copying your calendar over right here. This simple task promotes a command of the day.

The heart of the system, the very core of creative productivity. What will you do today? Solve for X, file an expense report, edit chapter 6, purchase a present for someone? If we choose to define ourselves by what we do, then today's to-dos are the heart of it. Jot down, right now, what's going to make a difference today. And when you've done it, come back and put a big "X" in the completed box on the right column.

As the day goes by. use this space to sketch wireframes, processes, floor plans, robots, aliens. Or, as white space for a quick list of names for a new venture, child or pet. Jot down a recipe – or whip together a quick grocery list. Or sketch your boss wearing a funny hat.

Nov 7, 2015

HOW TO USE ARCHERPART #3: Journaling

Days tend to blur together, as the seasons change, and the years pass. But each and every day is a unique experience worthy of remembering. Key to that is journaling, and Archer has aspects of that covered for you. the details of the day are triggers for remembering.

Each day has its memorable expenses -- something very expensive, something for your business, something for your loved ones. Something memorable – admission to Disneyland, drinks with friends. Use this space to keep track of the expenses worth remembering.

Things happened today. Funny things, sad things, surprising things. Memorable things – and this is your place to log them. Got a new bike? That's notable. Accidentally stepped on an ice cream cone? Also notable. The out of the ordinary happenings in life deserve to be noted, here.

Cookies. Milkshakes. Cigarettes, cigars, whiskey sours. Empty calories. We all have a few things in life that could broadly be considered vices. Track your consumption here. Keep tabs on it. When you look back, you might find it's not as bad as you thought – or maybe it'll be worse.